The top telephone and branch-based savings accounts

We Brits are being bitten by the savings bug.

The Office for National Statistics has revealed that the household saving ratio (which measures the proportion of our income that we save) hit 6.7% in the second quarter of this year, up from 6% in the first quarter. In total, British households stashed away £18.2 billion between April and June.

Super savings rates

I'm quite surprised that the household saving ratio had leapt by so much by mid-2012. After all, with the Bank of England's base rate frozen at 0.5% a year since March 2009, savings rates have plumbed new depths.

Then again, with all the worry about the eurozone crisis, rising unemployment and the ever-rising cost of living, it makes sense for Brits to save more and safeguard our futures.

Of course, to make the most of your savings, you need to shop around for the best interest rates. The top rates are paid by online savings accounts operated via the internet. This is because the low cost of running these accounts -- you do all the work yourself online -- translates into higher rates.

Indeed, online accounts offering easy access pay rates before tax approaching 3%, while notice and fixed-rate accounts can offer rates as high as 4% to those willing to tie up their spare cash for several years.

Old-school saving

On the other hand, what if you don't like the idea of managing your money online and entrusting your money to a faceless website? What if you prefer the old-fashioned service involved in walking into a local branch to withdraw real cash -- in notes and coins -- from your account?

The good news is that, for the millions of British savers who like the personal touch, there are still some splendid savings rates to be had. To demonstrate this, along with Moneyfacts, I've found the five highest-paying easy-access savings accounts which offer branch access (usually via a passbook).

Here they are, based on a savings balance of £1,000 or more:

Brilliant branch-based accounts

Source: Moneyfacts.co.uk, 15/10/12

As you can see, these accounts pay interest of between 2.26% and 2.65% a year before tax. All can be operated by branch, while three can be operated by telephone and the Newcastle BS account can be used online.

Given that the top rate paid by any online easy access account is around 2.8%, you're not sacrificing too much for the convenience of having branch and telephone access to the above accounts. Indeed, the rate offered by Leeds BS (2.65% AER) ranks among the highest in the savings tables (but only for the first year, of course).

Top telephone-operated accounts

On the other hand, what if you don't want to visit a branch, but wish to manage your savings by phone? Telephone banking really took off when Midland Bank (now part of mega-bank HSBC) launched first direct in 1989, after which phone banking grew to become a key part of everyday banking.

For fans of phone-based savings accounts, these are the top five in this category (again, based on a balance of £1,000-plus):

Source: Moneyfacts.co.uk, 15/10/12

A quick glance shows that these accounts pay slightly higher rates than those on offer in the previous table. Indeed, with rates ranging between 2.5% and 2.75%, these are highly attractive homes for your cash and even overtake several of their online-only rivals.

While none of these accounts can be accessed via branches, three allow postal access and three provide online access. In many ways, these are among the most convenient of all savings accounts and, therefore, ideal homes for your emergency cash or rainy-day money.

The top rate by phone comes from SAGA, which specialises in providing services to the UK's over-50s. However, after one year, the bonus paid by this account ends, sending its rate crashing to 0.5%. So you'll need to move your money!

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